


If I Let You in, then I'm to Blame

by lydia_rogue



Series: Burnt Chocolate [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, mute!Neo, spoilers for volume 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-02-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 15:17:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6056422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydia_rogue/pseuds/lydia_rogue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the fall of Beacon, Coco gets a text from an unknown number, looking for information about Roman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Let You in, then I'm to Blame

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunireal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunireal/gifts).



> Spoilers. Seriously, all the spoilers. If you haven't seen through the finale, you will have things spoiled.

Coco flipped open her scroll that evening after a long day of patrolling. There was one message waiting for her from an unknown number.

_Is this Coco Adel's number?_

She shook her head. She hated the games Roman played, but part of her was relieved he was okay.

**I don't have time for your games, Roman. What do you want?**

_Not Roman. I can't find him - I was hoping you knew. I'm Neopolitan (Neo) - a friend of Roman's. He gave me this number in case of emergencies._

**No, I'm sorry, I don't.**

_Is it too much to ask for you to let me know - even if it's he's been arrested? I know you two don't have the smoothest of relationships._

That was putting it lightly. She wasn't 100% sure who this "Neo" was but she saved the number. It was only fair.

 **Only if you let me know if you hear first** , she replied.

_Deal._

***

"Got a minute, partner?" Fox asked, walking into the room some weeks after the initial conversation with Neo. 

They were crashing on the floor of someone's apartment who had long since left Vale with Velvet and Yatsuhashi. As it was only the four of them, it was a bid for a private conversation between the two of them.

"Sure," she said, letting Fox lead her down the hall into a private corner.

"Ruby woke up, sent word to General Ironwood about what happened on the airship that went rogue."

Coco's breath caught in her throat. She had suspected that Roman had been on that airship.

"I thought you should know. Roman didn't make it. He was eaten by a Griffon, after spreading the virus to the soldiers that caused them to turn on us."

Coco clenched her hands, remembering the bruise that had bloomed on Velvet's cheek from the Atlesian Paladin striking her, how powerless she felt when her teammate had crumpled.

"Good riddance," she spat.

Fox tilted his head and then wrapped his arms around her in a sudden, tight hug. "It's not your fault," he whispered.

"I should have said something," she said, choking it out through the sudden tears. "I should have known, usually when he talked about his grand plans and such they all fell through and now... How many did we lose because I didn't say anything, Fox?"

His arms tightened further. "None. You did the best you could with what you knew." Coco shook her head and wrapped her arms around him just as tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"He was an asshole," she said, voice thick with tears.

"There's that. But you can't control who you love."

"I don't think it was ever love," she said, pulling back and wiping her face with one gloved hand.

"Velvet doesn't blame you."

"I do, though. Maidens forgive me, I do." She pulled away completely and took a deep breath. "Give me a few, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course," he said and made his way back to where they were staying.

Coco slumped against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting in the corner of the darkened hallway.

 **Hey can I call?** she sent to Neo. This wasn't something to tell her over text.

The reply was almost immediate.

_I'm mute, calling won't do any good. News?_

**Yeah.**

_He didn't make it, did he?_

**I'm so sorry.**

_thnx_

She looked up at the ceiling, asking for strength.

_"You want to be a huntress?" Roman was yelling, the acceptance letter from Beacon clutched in the hand he was pointing at her with._

_"We've talked about this, Roman!" she snapped, taking the letter back and carefully smoothing it out on the table. "That was always the plan."_

_"I didn't think you were serious!"_

_"I want to help people, Roman! I thought you knew that!"_

_"I want to help people too! You don't have to become a huntress to do that."_

_Every time he said the word "huntress" it became more and more like a sneer - like it was something he found stuck to the bottom of his shoe._

_"I don't want to read another news story about a village gone missing and only sending Lien to the surviving family members. I can do so much more than that." She studied his closed-off face and the unshed tears in his eyes. "It's not going to work out if I go to Beacon, is it?"_

Lost in thought, she'd dialed the most recent number she had for him.

"We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number and try again."

"Fuck you, asshole."

**Author's Note:**

> Wasn't sure if I should tag this with Major Character Death? Thoughts?
> 
> (It's all Lunireal's fault. Again.)
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr](http://marykay91.tumblr.com/)


End file.
